UNITED NATIONS, United States: Russia on Thursday blocked the extension of the UN panel of experts overseeing international sanctions against North Korea.
This comes weeks after the UN said it was investigating alleged arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The move was, however, met with a burst of criticism, including by Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who took to social media to term the veto “a guilty plea” amid allegations that North Korea is aiding Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The United States called Russia’s veto a “self-interested effort to bury the panel’s reporting on its own collusion” with North Korea.
Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman termed Russia’s actions cynically undermining international peace and security, all to advance the corrupt bargain that, he added, Moscow has struck with the North Korea.
Russian veto at the UN Security Council does not take away the sanctions on North Korea, but spells the end for the UN panel monitoring their implementation and the alleged violations.
The experts mandate expires at the end of April.
North Korea has been under escalating sanctions since 2006 put in place by the United Nations Security Council in response to its nuclear programme.
Since 2019, China and Russia both have tried to persuade the UNSC to ease the sanctions, which had no expiration date.
The UNSC has long been divided on the subject. China’s deputy ambassador Geng Shuang said Thursday that the sanctions have escalated tensions and confrontation with a serious negative impact on the humanitarian situation.
All members of the Security Council other than Russia voted for the resolution. China, however, abstained the vote.
Last week, North Korea tested a solid-fuel engine for a “new-type intermediate-range hypersonic missile,” according to the state media.
